John Robinson turned professional at 16 years of age with Brighton and Hove Albion and in 1992 moved to Charlton Athletic where he would play for the next 11 years of his career. He played over 500 games in the top two flights of English football. During his career with Charlton the team was promoted twice to the English Premiership. Charlton became the League Champions in the season 2000 to 2001, and in the season 2002 to 2003 finished seventh place in the English Premiership, the club's highest position to date, in the top division in England. Robinson was also a Wales International for over nine years playing in numerous qualifying games for Euro's and the World Cup. He retired as a player in 2004.
Soccer Banter: When and why did you move to the United States?
John Robinson: In 2009 I moved the family as I wanted a change of lifestyle for them and the opportunity to experience living somewhere else in the world. I always knew that youth soccer was very popular over here and I wanted to try to give my experience that I gained while playing in the English Premier League as well as being involved in the International set up for over 9 years to help youth soccer in the Untied States. I also had my own camps in England for 10 years and I wanted to start them over here.
SB: What is your current involvement with soccer in the US?
JR: I am the co-founder of Elite Soccer Center (www.elitesoccercenter.com) where we scout players in the United States and Canada. Once we identify players we then invite top players to a main event that will give them the opportunity to play games in front of College Coaches and possibily be selected to go on a trip to Europe. This year the main event will be held at the National Training Center, in Clermont Florida.
Besides Elite Soccer Center I am also very active in Southwest Florida. I am the director of John Robinson Soccer School, where I train Individual Players, Teams, Groups & run my Camps in SWF & Key West. This past year I was also named the Varsity Head Boys & Girls Coach for Canterbury School, in Fort Myers, & lastly this year I coach the u17 Girls team at Lee County Strikers, after training them once a week for the previous year.
SB: Though you have only been here a short time, what are your thoughts on youth soccer in the states?
JR: I think there are a lot of good young players and it is growing more but I also think that you always have to have your structure and foundation correct at the beginning. By structure or pyramid (as I call it) means focusing on the younger players, start at the bottom and work your way up to the tip rather than the other way around, which is sometimes what I have noticed.
SB: What advice would you give a young kid that wants to become a professional soccer player? Are players born with talent or is it developed?
JR: The best advice is to make sure you work hard and give 100% effort every time you go out on the soccer field, whether it be for training or the biggest game of your life. Be prepared to listen to your coach, take the advice, then go and practice, practice and more practice on your own because if you don't then there are a million other kid's that want to become a professional soccer player. There are many parts of the Jigsaw Puzzle to being a professional soccer player and you need to have more of those pieces than the next player and that’s how you will be different and stand out on the field against other players.
Some players are born with natural talent, but always players have to be trained & developed.
SB: Which club in the UK do you support as a fan today?
JR: I still support Charlton Athletic because of my many years I played there and for what we achieved during that time. I also love watching teams like Barcelona, Arsenal, & Manchester United because they play soccer the correct way.
SB: Who was the best player you ever played with and why?
JR: I was very lucky to play with some great players within my club career and certainly for Wales, players like Ian Rush, Neville Southall, John Hartson, Dean Saunders, Gary Speed, but it has to be Ryan Giggs. I had the pleasure to be around Giggs for over 9 years, his dedication to the game is unbelievable and there is no surprise to me that he signed another year contract this year.
SB: Who was the best player you played against and why?
JR: Again I was lucky to play against a lot of world class players, from my time in the EPL and on the international scene when we played in World Cup qualifiers, against teams like Holland, Republic Of Ireland, Poland, Germany, Sweden, England, Czech Republic, to name a few, & European Championship qualifiers against teams like Italy, Spain, Switzerland Portugal and obviously friendly matches against Brazil, Argentina and Cameroon.
As you can imagine the list would be endless but probably the best player I played against was Zinedine Zidane, he was just a magician with the ball and he made the hardest things look so simple. My second choice would be Ronaldo (Brazil) when he was in his prime as a youngster coming through.
My hardest opposition player would have to be Roberto Carlos & Cafu of Brazil.
SB: What is your favorite memory during your playing career?
JR: People will probably be surprised of my choice, because at Charlton we gained promotion to the EPL once as Champions and the other in the greatest play-off game in history at Wembley and for how we built up our club. Individually I was awarded Player of the year trophies for every club I played for, named to teams of the season whcih is voted on by your peers and was even named Wales International player of the year.
But for me it is when I signed my 1st professional contract as a soccer player because all the hard work and sacrifices my parents and I had to make were rewarded with my dream since the age of 4 had been achieved. Though this is my greatest memory, thta day is also when I realized again that the hard work had just begun.
SB: Who has a better chance of making it to a World Cup Final in your lifetime; Wales, England or the United States?
JR: Wales (of course)
SB: Who will win this year's Champions League?
JR: Barcelona, I hope an English club, but I just think Barca are so strong and will get stronger at the later rounds.
Soccer Banter: When and why did you move to the United States?
John Robinson: In 2009 I moved the family as I wanted a change of lifestyle for them and the opportunity to experience living somewhere else in the world. I always knew that youth soccer was very popular over here and I wanted to try to give my experience that I gained while playing in the English Premier League as well as being involved in the International set up for over 9 years to help youth soccer in the Untied States. I also had my own camps in England for 10 years and I wanted to start them over here.
SB: What is your current involvement with soccer in the US?
JR: I am the co-founder of Elite Soccer Center (www.elitesoccercenter.com) where we scout players in the United States and Canada. Once we identify players we then invite top players to a main event that will give them the opportunity to play games in front of College Coaches and possibily be selected to go on a trip to Europe. This year the main event will be held at the National Training Center, in Clermont Florida.
Besides Elite Soccer Center I am also very active in Southwest Florida. I am the director of John Robinson Soccer School, where I train Individual Players, Teams, Groups & run my Camps in SWF & Key West. This past year I was also named the Varsity Head Boys & Girls Coach for Canterbury School, in Fort Myers, & lastly this year I coach the u17 Girls team at Lee County Strikers, after training them once a week for the previous year.
SB: Though you have only been here a short time, what are your thoughts on youth soccer in the states?
JR: I think there are a lot of good young players and it is growing more but I also think that you always have to have your structure and foundation correct at the beginning. By structure or pyramid (as I call it) means focusing on the younger players, start at the bottom and work your way up to the tip rather than the other way around, which is sometimes what I have noticed.
SB: What advice would you give a young kid that wants to become a professional soccer player? Are players born with talent or is it developed?
JR: The best advice is to make sure you work hard and give 100% effort every time you go out on the soccer field, whether it be for training or the biggest game of your life. Be prepared to listen to your coach, take the advice, then go and practice, practice and more practice on your own because if you don't then there are a million other kid's that want to become a professional soccer player. There are many parts of the Jigsaw Puzzle to being a professional soccer player and you need to have more of those pieces than the next player and that’s how you will be different and stand out on the field against other players.
Some players are born with natural talent, but always players have to be trained & developed.
SB: Which club in the UK do you support as a fan today?
JR: I still support Charlton Athletic because of my many years I played there and for what we achieved during that time. I also love watching teams like Barcelona, Arsenal, & Manchester United because they play soccer the correct way.
SB: Who was the best player you ever played with and why?
JR: I was very lucky to play with some great players within my club career and certainly for Wales, players like Ian Rush, Neville Southall, John Hartson, Dean Saunders, Gary Speed, but it has to be Ryan Giggs. I had the pleasure to be around Giggs for over 9 years, his dedication to the game is unbelievable and there is no surprise to me that he signed another year contract this year.
SB: Who was the best player you played against and why?
JR: Again I was lucky to play against a lot of world class players, from my time in the EPL and on the international scene when we played in World Cup qualifiers, against teams like Holland, Republic Of Ireland, Poland, Germany, Sweden, England, Czech Republic, to name a few, & European Championship qualifiers against teams like Italy, Spain, Switzerland Portugal and obviously friendly matches against Brazil, Argentina and Cameroon.
As you can imagine the list would be endless but probably the best player I played against was Zinedine Zidane, he was just a magician with the ball and he made the hardest things look so simple. My second choice would be Ronaldo (Brazil) when he was in his prime as a youngster coming through.
My hardest opposition player would have to be Roberto Carlos & Cafu of Brazil.
SB: What is your favorite memory during your playing career?
JR: People will probably be surprised of my choice, because at Charlton we gained promotion to the EPL once as Champions and the other in the greatest play-off game in history at Wembley and for how we built up our club. Individually I was awarded Player of the year trophies for every club I played for, named to teams of the season whcih is voted on by your peers and was even named Wales International player of the year.
But for me it is when I signed my 1st professional contract as a soccer player because all the hard work and sacrifices my parents and I had to make were rewarded with my dream since the age of 4 had been achieved. Though this is my greatest memory, thta day is also when I realized again that the hard work had just begun.
SB: Who has a better chance of making it to a World Cup Final in your lifetime; Wales, England or the United States?
JR: Wales (of course)
SB: Who will win this year's Champions League?
JR: Barcelona, I hope an English club, but I just think Barca are so strong and will get stronger at the later rounds.